Boot-treeing machine



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. B. FOWLER. BOOT TREEING MACHINE.

No. 442,034. Patented Dec. 2, 1890. Q

WTHEESEE T51 (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Shqet 2.

AQB. FOWLER. BOOT TREEING MACHINE.

No. 442,034. Patented Dec. 2, 1890.

mmllr (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

A. B. FOWLER. BOOT TREEING MACHINE. No. 442,084. Patented Dec. 2, 1890.

$11252; LIETUI aa f me uoa'ms wanna cm, mom-mum, wasnmnmy h. c.-

STATES ALFRE I) B.

PATENT Orricn.

FOWLER, OF EXETER, ,NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO OLIVER A. MILLER, OFBROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS. V

BOOT-TREEING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 442,034, dated December2, 1890. Application filed July 25, 1890' Serial No. 359.898. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED B. FOWLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Exeter, in the county of Rockingham and State of NewHampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boot orShoe Treeing Benches; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull,clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain improvements in machines for freeingboots or shoes; and it consists in mounting two tree-legs upon atree-frame which is pivoted at one end upon a fixed standard and whichoperates in conjunction with fixed stops for limiting the movement ofthe tree-frame and its tree-legs when oscillated to and from a centralposition and a position at the right of the operator, the other tree-legoscillating between said central position and a position at the left ofthe operator.

It also consists in a yielding device interposed between the treadle andthe expanding device which expands the tree-legs to allow the treadle tobe depressed, after the treehas been expanded, sufficient to lock thetreadle under a hooked locking projection, thereby preventing the lossof any of the pressure on the boot or shoe which is being treed on thetree.

It further consists in providing means whereby a blast of air is forcedupon the boots or shoes when they are in aposition at either side of thecentral position; and it consists, further, in providing automatic meansto shut off the blast of air at the position from which a finished bootor shoe is being moved and at the same time to let on a blast of air atthe opposite position toward which a newlytreed boot or shoe is beingmoved and is desired to be dried by the blast of air.

It consists, also, in minor details of construction and combinations ofparts, which will befully set forth in the specification and "claimshereinafter.

.Heretofore treeing-benches have been pro- ,videdwith only one tree-leg,and the boots or shoes which have been treed thereon have either beenremoved from the trees as soon as the manipulations in freeing them havebeen completed and before they have had time to dry sufficiently toretain their proper form or one operator has been obliged to oper- 3 atethe trees on two or more separate benches and to tree a boot on onebench while the creed boot on the other bench or benches is drying. Thelatter case althoughbeing preferable to the former, is stillobjectionable, as the operator is obliged to travel considerable ingoing from one bench to the other and thereby wastes time; also,theseparate benches occupy considerable valuable room. All these objectionsI overcome by the use of my improved bench, and I also secure theadvantage of being able to use right and left tree-legs on a singlebench, which is a decided advantage, as it enables one to tree the bootsor shoes more perfectly and in better shape than where one tree only isused and both right and left boots or shoes are trced on the sametree-leg.

My invention is carried out asshown on the accompanying drawings, onwhich-- Figure 1 represents a plan View of my improved treeing-benchcomplete, with a treed boot upon one of the trees and said boot moved toa position at the left of the operator and under the tube which conveysthe blast of air to dry the boot, the other tree being in the centralposition in front of the operator and contracted ready to. receiveanother boot to be freed. Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of the sameseen from the left of the bench. Fig. 3 represents a central verticalsection through the central position of the trees, showing the benchwithout theair-blast attachment. Fig. 4 represents a detailed horizontalsection on the line on Q3, shown in Fig 3. Fig. 5 repo resents adetailed vertical section on the line y y, shown in Fig. 3, showing arear view of the front standard of the bench with the stops and locksfor the treadle which operates the tree-legs to expand and contractthem. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 represent modified forms of the yielding deviceinterposed between the treadle and the tree-expanding device.

Similar letters refer to similar parts on the different parts of thedrawings. mo

The bench proper, which is made as usual, is composed of the top a,supported on a suitable standard or frame a a and is provided with astandard projecting up from the top of the bench, which standard ispreferably made in two parts I) and 1), adjustable up and down, onewithin the other, to bring the trees to the proper height for theoperator using the bench. The upper part of said standard is providedwith a horizontally proj ectin g bearing-plate b To the top of the upperpart b of the standard is pivoted at 0 the tree-carrying frame 0, whichis provided with the two tubes or bearings c 0 radiating from the centeron which the tree-carrying frame is journaled, and in said bearings arejournaled the two tree-legs D and D in such a manner that they may beturned in said bearings so as to present the entire surface ,of the bootor shoe in a convenient position to be treed and rubbed by the operator.

Any kind of expansible tree-legs may be used on this my improved bench;but I have shown those which are expanded by drawing on a rod d,projecting from the tree, and are contracted by allowing said rod to bereturned by the influence of a spring 01' within the tree. The internalmechanism of the tree-leg is not shown on the drawings, as it forms nopart of my present invention.

The outer partof the frame 0 rests and is movable on a lip or flange bprojecting upward from the bearing-plate b The flange b is cut away atb, for a purpose as will be explained hereinafter.

To the end of the rod d is attached the spindle 01 on which is looselymounted the block or sleeve 6, and on the screw-threaded inner end ofsaid spindle is adjustably mounted the collar 6', held thereon by meansof the hand-wheel e and check-nut 6 e represents a spiralor otherelastic spring which surrounds the spindle between the block 6 andcollar 6, said spring tending to press the block and collar apart. Theblock 6 fits loosely within the bearing 0 and is providedon its underside with a pin and roll e", which moves within a slot in the bearing 0and is pressed against the follower f by the influence of the spring 6as shown in Fig. 3. The follower f is gnidedin a bracket attached to theflange b and also in the cut-awayportion I) of said flange.

9' represents a bell-crank lever pivoted at g to the plate 11 or earsattached thereto, one end of said lever resting against a downward"projection f on the follower, the other end ofi'said lever beingattached to the foot-treadle h by means of the rod h, yoke- 7L2, andbolt 7L which latter passes loosely through a perforation in the treadleh, and also through a perforation in an elliptic spring 7L", restingagainst the under side of the treadle, said bolt being provided with anut and check-nut 71 as shown in Figs. 2 and 1 It will be seen that ifthe treadle is depressed it will cause the bell-crank lever to force thefollower in toward the pivot c, compressing the spring 6 therebywithdrawing the rod d and expanding the tree until the projection f onthe follower comes to a stop against the outer edge of the bearing-plateb and thereby brings the inner end of the follower on a line with theinner surface of the flange b which, being an arc of a circle having thecenter at the center of the pivot c',will allow of swinging thetree-carrying frame 0 with the expanded tree thereon to one side,bringing the other tree into its central position with the pin orrollonsaid second tree restingagainst the inner surface of the followerin the position from which the first tree has just been moved. As morepower is required to compress the elliptic spring h than is required tomove the follower to its inner position, just above mentioned, saidelliptic spring will remain in its normal position in relation to thetreadle during the operation of moving the follower to expand the treeand as the treadle h is adjusted, so that when it is depressedsufficient to force the follower to its inner position it will bring theupper part of the inclined locking-plate h on said treadle just abovethe hooked locking-catch a on the standard a of the bench, and it willbe seen that in order to lock the treadle in its depressed. position itwill be necessary to further depress the treadle against the influenceof the elliptic spring h compressing said spring until the locking-plateh can be placed under the hookedlocking-catch a and if the pressing isthen removed from the treadle the spring will force the incline on thelockingpla-te up into the hook of the locking-catch and lock thetreadle, the elliptic spring taking up any slack caused by this upwardmovement of the treadle without allowing the follower to be moved fromits inner positionby the influence of the spring e Thus the use of thespring prevents the strain on the boot or shoe being treed from becominglessened by the locking of the treadle, as would be the case if such aspring were to be dispensed with and the bell-crank lever attachedrigidly to the treadle.

It is necessary to have the locking-plate-on the treadle made inclinedand the lockingcatch on the standard made hooked in order to prevent anyliability of the treadle becoming unlocked by the jarring of themachine, as would be the case if said locking-plate and catch were madestraight; but by making the locking plate and catch as described itrequires the introduction of ayielding device in the connectingmechanism between the treadle and the follower which will besufficiently rigid to resist the pressure required to move the followerto its inner position,but which can be compressed enough afterward bythe treadle to lock the treadle. This construction keeps the follower initsinner position with the face of the follower flush with the innersurface of the flange b allowing the roll a to be easily'moved onto theinner surface of said. flange when the frame c ismake said stop and alsothe hooked lockingcatch adjustable on the standard to enable me toeasily adjust the limits of movements of the treadle.

To support the outer end of the bearingplate I) and to keep it fromsagging, I provide a prop 2', preferably in the form of a rod, the upperend of which rests in a socket on the under side of the bracket for'thefollower, the lower end of the rod being screw-threaded and passingthrough a perforation in the top of the bench, where it is provided witha screw-threaded nut t", surrounding the lower end of the rod andbearing against the top of the bench. The rod 2' is made sufficientlylong to allow for the adjustment of the tree carrying frame 0 up anddown, as above described.

b 12 represent stops on the plate 11 operating in connection with theprojection a to limit the movement of the t-ree-carryin g frame a toeither side of its central position.

1) represents apin operated by means of the lever b or by a suitabletreadie b and connecting-rod b" to said lever to lock the frame 0 ineither of its two positions, said pin being guided in a perforation inthe plate (2 and entering one of two recesses on the under side of theframe 0.

Suitable springs are supplied to the bench to return the treadle h toits normal position, and also to hold the locking-pin 1) within therecess in the tree-carrying frame.

On the principal figures of the drawings I have shown the yieldingdevice introduced between the treadle and the follower as consisting ofthe elliptic spring h but the same may be varied within the scope ofmechanical skill without departing from the spirit of my invention, andI have shown a few of the various modifications in Figs. 6,, '7, and 8,in which ayielding device in the form of a spring is applied,respectively, to the follower, the bell-crank lever, and theconnectingrod. The operations of said modifications are thought to be soapparent that no special explanations are needed.

In treeiug boots orshoes it is desirable that the same should be driedor as nearly so as is possible before they are taken from the tree inorder that they should better retain their shape and finish after beingremoved. To facilitate the drying of the boot or shoe aftcr it has beentreed, I provide the bench with a pipe or tube 70, which is connectedwith a suitable fan-blower or to any suitablesource of supply of warmair, said tube being preferably provided with a second tube or pipe is,which fits tightly within the tube 7t andis capable of adjustment up ordown to allow for the adjustment of the trees, as above described. Thetube 7.1 is provided with the branch tubes or pipe 71: and 7.1 which aresupported by the bracket Z, attached to the under side of thebearing-plate b and which convey the warm air to positions just abovethose occupied by the boots or shoes after they have been treed andmoved to one side by the operator, one of said branch pipes leading tothe position at the right of the operator and the other one at the leftof the operator, where they discharge a blast of warm air directly downupon the boot or shoe which may be under them. I prefer to have thepipes k and 7.5 open above the boot or shoe and to force the warm airdown upon the same, as by so doing the warm air is held in closeproximity to the boot or shoe longer by its tendency to rise and by theforce of the air from the pipes; but said pipes might be arranged toopen below the boot or shoe or at one side of the same without departingfrom the spirit of my invention.

Only one of the branch pipes can have a boot or shoe in position underit at any given time, and to prevent a waste of the warm air through thebranch pipe which has no boot or shoe under it I provide the branchpipes with suitable valves or cut-offs 713 and which are preferablyattached to the movable treecarrying frame 0 in such a manner that theyare automatically opened when a treed-boot or shoe is moved under theirrespective branch pipe and are automatically closed by the removal ofthe bootor shoe from under their respective branch pipe.

The cut-offs used in the branch pipes k and 70 are constructed so as toslide into and across the opening in said pipes to close the pipes andto be withdrawn from said pipes to open them. The outer ends of thestems It and k of the cut-offs are attached, respectively, to the endsof the levers m and m,which levers are fulcrumed at m and m to thebracketl and are pivotally attached at their outer ends, respectively,to the links 92. and n. The liuksnandnare attached to the tree-carryingframe a by means of the screws n and n which move in the slotted ends ofsaid links in such a manner as to allow the frame 0 to be turned on itsfulcrum a part of its movement without moving the links. It will be seenthat if the trees are in the position shown in Fig. 1 the cut-off willbe closed, preventing the blast of warm air being forced through thepipe 71: from entering the branch pipe 73; also, that the cut-off 10''will be open, allowing the blast of warm air to enter the branch pipe 70and to be discharged through the mouth of said branch pipe down-upon thetreed boot, which is on the tree I) in IIO a position under said pipe.The operator, after treeing asecond boot upon the tree D, proceeds tomove the tree-carrying head, with the trees mounted thereon, toward hisright, which causes the screws 11 and n to.

be moved within their respective slots in the end of the links n and nuntil they reach the end of said slots, when they will move said links,causing the levers m and m to be turned on their fulcrums in such amanner that the cut-off k will be opened and the cut-off 7& closed whenthe tree D reaches the extreme end of its movement to the right and isunder the mouth of the branch pipe'k thus closing the branch and openingthe branch pipe 76* into free communication with the warm-air-supplypipe is 7c.

If several machines are supplied with warm 'air from the samesupply-pipe from which the pipe It leads to myimproved machine and mymachine is to remain idle for awhile, it is desirable that the blast ofair should be entirely shut otf from both branch pipes Wand k to mymachine, and it is only necessary to move the tree-carryin g head to oneside until the screws n and n reach the end of the slots in, the links aand a, when the cut-oft which is then open can be closed by the operatormoving it by hand, as the slot in the link will allow the cut-off to bemoved sufficiently to close it when the trees are in this position.

I do not wish to confine myself tothe exact mechanism used toautomatically open and close communication between the supplypipek 7t.and the branch pipes 70 and it as such maybe changed within the scope ofmechanical skill without departing from'my invention.

Having the parts in the relative positions shown on the drawings inFigs. 1, 2, and 3, the operator puts a boot or shoe upon the contractedtree D, whichis in the central position in front of him. He then expandsthe tree by depressing the treadle h and locks the trea'dle, as abovedescribed. He then rubs the boot or shoe and performs whatevermanipulations are necessary to tree the boot, after which he swings thetreed boot or shoe and the tree D to the right until it is stopped bythe projection on the frame 0 coming in contact with one of the stops 1)on the plate 19 This will bring the second tree D into the centralposition,from which the first tree has just been moved, with its pin orroll a resting against the inner face of the follower The operator thenallows the treadle to return to its normal position by unlocking it,which will cause the tree D to contract, as heretofore described. Hethen places another boot upon the tree D and expands the same within theboot in a manner similar to the way he did with the first boot, andafter treeing this boot he moves it and the tree D to the left until itis stopped by the other stop b at the same time bringing the first boot,which has been dried by a blast of warm air from the branch pipe kduring this time,

back to the central position. Thus it will be seen that the frame a iscaused to oscillate on the pivot a, so as to bring each tree insuccession to and from the central position in front of the operator,which is a great advantage, as it relieves him of the necessity ofmoving from one bench to another to tree a second boot while thefirst-treed boot is drying, as is the case when an operator trees bootson two separate benches on which single trees are mounted; also, itenables him to have a right foot on one treeleg and a left foot on theother tree-leg, and therefore he can tree the boots by pairs and in muchbetter shape than with a siugle treeleg having a straight foot.

I am fully aware that boot and shoe treeing machines have been made witha rotating head mounted on astandard, said head carrying a number ofradiating tree-legs which rotate with said head from a position in frontof the operator around an entire circle back to their first position, asshown in thepatents to Ambler and Wires, No. 227,669, dated May 18,1880; Ambler, No. 230,601, dated August 3, 1880, and to myself, No,393,003, dated November 20, 1888; but such machines are expensive tomanufacture and cover a great deal of valuable floor-room.

I am able to secure all the advantages of the machines mentioned aboveby my improved treeing-benoh, which costs much less and is made morecompact, covering much less floor-space. I do not wish to claim in thisapplication the mechanism herein described for expanding and contractingthe trees, as such is fully set forth in another application, No.323,264, filed by me and duly allowed May 17, 1890; nor do I wish toconfine myself to the use of the precise mechanism shown for expandingand contracting the trees, as other means may be used to equal advantagewithout departing from the spirit of my invention, which consists,broadly, in supplying a treeing-bench with two tree-legs mounted on apivot and adapted to be oscillated so as to bring either of the trees inits. central position in front of the operator and to carrythe othertree to one side to allow the boot orshoe treed thereon to dry while aboot or shoe is being treed on the other tree-leg, and also combiningtherewith mechanism whereby the operatingtreadle is looked under ahooked'catch withour loss of strain on the treed boot or shoe; also,means whereby the boot or shoe may be subjected to a blast of warm airto dry the same after it has been treed and moved to one side.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and operation ofmy invention, I wish to secure by Letters Patent, and claim- 1. Thecombination, in a boot or shoe treeing machine, of a bench provided withan up right standard, an oscillatoryframe journaled at one end upon thestandard and carrying two tree-legs, and a fixed horizontalsupporting-plate located under the oscillating table and provided withtwo fixed stops separated from each other a distance equal to the extentthe frame oscillates and serving to arrest the frame in the twodirections of its movement, substantially as described.

2. In a boot or shoe treeing bench, a treeframe and mechanism foroscillating it with its two tree-legs to and from a central position, anexpansible tree mounted thereon, a follower for expanding said tree,atreadle to 0perate said follower, and a hooked catch to lock saidtreadle when the tree is expanded, combined with a yielding springinterposed between the follower and treadle to obviate the lossof strainin the boot or shoe caused by locking said treadles, substantially asdescribed.

In a boot or shoe treeing bench, two expansible trees mounted upon apivoted frame on the bench and adapted to oscillate to and from acentral position, a bearing-plate attached to the bench and having aflange for supporting said tree-carrying frame, a cutaway portion insaid flange, afollower for expanding and contracting said trees, atreadle and connecting mechanism to said follower for operating thelatter, a stop on the bench to limit the upward movement of saidtreadle, a hooked catch upon the bench for locking said treadle in itsdepressed position, and a yielding device interposed in the connectingmechanism between said treadle and follower to allow the treadle to belooked under said hooked catch after the tree has been expanded withoutloss of strain on the treed boot upon said tree, for the purpose setforth.

4:. In a boot or shoe treeing bench, two trees mounted upon the benchand adapted to oscillate to and from a central position and positions atthe right and left of said central position, respectively, combined withair-blast pipes leading from an air-blast supply to deliver a blast ofair uponthe trees when in the posit-ions at the right and left of thecentral position, for the purpose set forth.

5. In a boot or shoe treeing bench, two trees mounted upon the bench andadapted to oscillate to and from a central position and positions at theright and left of said central position, respectively, combined with anairblast-supply pipe, branch pipes leading from the supply-pipe tosuitable positions to de' liver a blast of air upon the trees when inthe positions at the rightand left of the central position, a cut-off ineach of said branch pipes, and means for automatically opening saidcut-offs when the trees are moved to their respective branch pipes andfor closing the same when the trees are moved away from their respectivebranch pipes, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

I11 testimony whereof I have afiixed my sig nature in presence of twowitnesses.

ALFRED B. FOWLER.

\Vitnesses:

HENRY CHADBOURN, FRANK E. GREENWOOD.

